The present disclosure relates generally to induction heating systems and, more particularly, to interchangeable induction heating assemblies.
Induction heating may be used to pre-heat metal before welding or post-heat the metal after welding. It is well known to weld pieces of steel (or other material) together. For example, pipes are often formed by taking a flat piece of steel and rolling the steel. A longitudinal weld is then made along the ends of the rolled steel, thus forming a section of pipe. A pipeline may be formed by circumferential welding adjacent sections of pipe together. Other applications of welding steel (or other material) include ship building, railroad yards, tanker trucks, or other higher strength alloy welding.
When welding steel (or other material), it is generally desirable to pre-heat the workpiece along the weld path. Pre-heating is used to raise the temperature of the workpiece along the weld path because the filler metal binds to the workpiece better when the weld path is pre-heated, particularly when high-alloy steel is being welded. Without pre-heating, there is a greater likelihood that the filler metal will not properly bind with the workpiece, and a crack may form, for example. Generally, the steel may be preheated to approximately 600° C. prior to welding.